Morena, and happy Friday - although for those of you in Auckland now facing week 5 of lockdown, that probably does not hold the same appeal it used to. 

The e-letter is short and sweet today, but please note for those of you outside Auckland - there is a new criteria for the third wage subsidy that you need to be aware of when you apply for it.  

WAGE SUBSIDY #3 OPENS BUT THERE IS A NEW TEST FOR ELIGIBILITY

For those of you in Delta 2, who are still suffering a decline in revenue, the declaration for the this third round includes a requirement that the downturn is directly related to Auckland remaining in Level 4/3.

You need to be able to justify how Auckland remaining in Level 4 has affected your business in your region.  For some that will be straightforward but for others it will not.  For example local cafes/restaurants will not be able to claim the wage subsidy as they are not reliant on Aucklanders for their business, and if your work is mostly based locally, there is a possibility that you will not be eligible either.  The rules very specifically say you cannot take into account the effects of Level 2 when calculating your decline.

I got wind of this change on Wednesday and spoke to Treasury yesterday who confirmed it had been included as part of the policy for the third wage subsidy. It seems unduly harsh and I will send off a letter to the Minister's office (as I am sure will many others), but in the meantime the clause remains.

The subsidy is open from 9 am this morning until 11.59 pm on 30 September. The decline period is 14 September - 27 September. Remember you need to allow at least two weeks between applications, and if you have applied for one of the previous wage subsidies you will be notified when you are eligible to re-apply.

I'm happy to talk this through with you if you have any questions.

SECOND RESURGENCE PAYMENT 

Applications for the second resurgence payment have also opened this morning.  The criteria remain exactly the same as for the first one - you will need to show a 30% or more drop in revenue in a 7-day period from 8 September until immediately before all of NZ returns to Alert Level 1 compared to a typical 7-day period in the 6 weeks before 17 August. The payment is the same at $1,500 per business plus $400 per FTE up to 50 FTEs - a maximum payment of $21,500. 

Applications remain open for both resurgence payments until 1 month after NZ returns to Level 1.

You can lodge your application through your MyIR portal on ird.govt.nz.  Please note you need to be the owner of the MyIR for your business, and in some cases this may be someone else in your business, or even your accountant.  If you can't see Resurgence Payment on the righthand side of your MyIR you are not the owner of the account.  
 

Please take care and know that we are here to help - even if you just need someone to vent to.